In vertebrateanatomy, hip (or "coxa"[1] in medical terminology) refers to either an anatomical region or a joint.

The hip region is located lateral and anterior to the gluteal region (i.e., the buttock), inferior to the iliac crest, and overlying the greater trochanter of the femur, or "thigh bone".[2] In adults, three of the bones of the pelvis have fused into the hip bone or acetabulum which forms part of the hip region.

The hip joint, scientifically referred to as the acetabulofemoral joint (art. coxae), is the joint between the femur and acetabulum of the pelvis and its primary function is to support the weight of the body in both static (e.g. standing) and dynamic (e.g. walking or running) postures. The hip joints are the most important part in retaining balance. The pelvic inclination angle, which is the single most important element of human body posture, is mostly adjusted at the hips.[citation needed]

Pain of the hip may be the result of numerous causes including nervous, osteoarthritic, infectious, trauma-related, and genetic ones.

Anatomy

Region

Proximally the femur is largely covered by muscles and, as a consequence, the greater trochanter is often the only palpable bony structure. Distally on the femur some more palpable bony structures are the condyles.[4]

Articulation

Radiograph of a healthy human hip joint

The hip joint is a synovial joint formed by the articulation of the rounded head of the femur and the cup-like acetabulum of the pelvis. It forms the primary connection between the bones of the lower limb and the axial skeleton of the trunk and pelvis. Both joint surfaces are covered with a strong but lubricated layer called articular hyaline cartilage.

The cuplike acetabulum forms at the union of three pelvic bones — the ilium, pubis, and ischium.[5] The Y-shaped growth plate that separates them, the triradiate cartilage, is fused definitively at ages 14–16.[6] It is a special type of spheroidal or ball and socket joint where the roughly spherical femoral head is largely contained within the acetabulum and has an average radius of curvature of 2.5 cm.[7] The acetabulum grasps almost half the femoral ball, a grip augmented by a ring-shaped fibrocartilaginous lip, the acetabular labrum, which extends the joint beyond the equator.[5] The joint space between the femoral head and the superior acetabulum is normally between 2 and 7 mm.[8]

The head of the femur is attached to the shaft by a thin neck region that is often prone to fracture in the elderly, which is mainly due to the degenerative effects of osteoporosis.

Transverse and sagittal angles of acetabular inlet plane.

The acetabulum is oriented inferiorly, laterally and anteriorly, while the femoral neck is directed superiorly, medially, and slightly anteriorly.

Articulal angles

The transverse angle of the acetabular inlet (also called Sharp's angle and is generally the angle referred to by acetabular angle without further specification)[9] can be determined by measuring the angle between a line passing from the superior to the inferior acetabular rim and the horizontal plane; an angle which normally measures 51° at birth and 40° in adults, however, nobody knows this because this experiment want configured by orangutan apes, and which affects the acetabular lateral coverage of the femoral head and several other parameters.[10]

The sagittal angle of the acetabular inlet is an angle between a line passing from the anterior to the posterior acetabular rim and the sagittal plane. It measures 7° at birth and increases to 17° in adults.[10]

Wiberg's centre-edge angle (CE angle) is an angle between a vertical line and a line from the centre of the femoral head to the most lateral part of the acetabulum,[11] as seen on an anteroposteriorradiograph.[12]

The vertical-centre-anterior margin angle (VCA) is an angle formed from a vertical line (V) and a line from the centre of the femoral head (C) and the anterior (A) edge of the dense shadow of the subchondral bone slightly posterior to the anterior edge of the acetabulum, with the radiograph being taken from the false angle, that is, a lateral view rotated 25 degrees towards becoming frontal.[12]

The articular cartilage angle (AC angle, also called Hilgenreiner angle) is an angle formed parallel to the weight bearing dome, that is, the acetabular sourcil, and the horizontal plane,[11] or a line connecting the corner of the triangular cartilage and the lateral acetabular rim.[13]

Femoral neck angle

The angle between the longitudinal axes of the femoral neck and shaft, called the caput-collum-diaphyseal angle or CCD angle, normally measures approximately 150° in newborn and 126° in adults (coxa norma).[14][dubious– discuss]

An abnormally small angle is known as coxa vara and an abnormally large angle as coxa valga. Because changes in shape of the femur naturally affects the knee, coxa valga is often combined with genu varum (bow-leggedness), while coxa vara leads to genu valgum (knock-knees).[15]

Changes in trabecular patterns due to altered CCD angle. Coxa valga leads to more compression trabeculae, coxa vara to more tension trabeculae.[14]

Changes in CCD angle is the result of changes in the stress patterns applied to the hip joint. Such changes, caused for example by a dislocation, changes the trabecular patterns inside the bones. Two continuous trabecular systems emerging on auricular surface of the sacroiliac joint meander and criss-cross each other down through the hip bone, the femoral head, neck, and shaft.

In the hip bone, one system arises on the upper part of auricular surface to converge onto the posterior surface of the greater sciatic notch, from where its trabeculae are reflected to the inferior part of the acetabulum. The other system emerges on the lower part of the auricular surface, converges at the level of the superior gluteal line, and is reflected laterally onto the upper part of the acetabulum.

In the femur, the first system lines up with a system arising from the lateral part of the femoral shaft to stretch to the inferior portion of the femoral neck and head. The other system lines up with a system in the femur stretching from the medial part of the femoral shaft to the superior part of the femoral head.[16]

On the lateral side of the hip joint the fascia lata is strengthened to form the iliotibial tract which functions as a tension band and reduces the bending loads on the proximal part of the femur.[14]

Capsule

The capsule attaches to the hip bone outside the acetabular lip which thus projects into the capsular space. On the femoral side, the distance between the head's cartilaginous rim and the capsular attachment at the base of the neck is constant, which leaves a wider extracapsular part of the neck at the back than at the front.[17][18]

The strong but loose fibrous capsule of the hip joint permits the hip joint to have the second largest range of movement (second only to the shoulder) and yet support the weight of the body, arms and head.

The capsule has two sets of fibers: longitudinal and circular.

The circular fibers form a collar around the femoral neck called the zona orbicularis.

The longitudinal retinacular fibers travel along the neck and carry blood vessels.

The hip joint is reinforced by four ligaments, of which three are extracapsular and one intracapsular.

The extracapsular ligaments are the iliofemoral, ischiofemoral, and pubofemoral ligaments attached to the bones of the pelvis (the ilium, ischium, and pubis respectively). All three strengthen the capsule and prevent an excessive range of movement in the joint. Of these, the Y-shaped and twisted iliofemoral ligament is the strongest ligament in the human body. [18] In the upright position, it prevents the trunk from falling backward without the need for muscular activity. In the sitting position, it becomes relaxed, thus permitting the pelvis to tilt backward into its sitting position. The iliofemoral ligament prevents excessive adduction and internal rotation of the hip. The ischiofemoral ligament prevents medial (internal) rotation while the pubofemoral ligament restricts abduction and internal rotation of the hip joint. [19] The zona orbicularis, which lies like a collar around the most narrow part of the femoral neck, is covered by the other ligaments which partly radiate into it. The zona orbicularis acts like a buttonhole on the femoral head and assists in maintaining the contact in the joint. [18] All three ligaments become taut when the joint is extended - this stabilises the joint, and reduces the energy demand of muscles when standing [20]

The intracapsular ligament, the ligamentum teres, is attached to a depression in the acetabulum (the acetabular notch) and a depression on the femoral head (the fovea of the head). It is only stretched when the hip is dislocated, and may then prevent further displacement. [18] It is not that important as a ligament but can often be vitally important as a conduit of a small artery to the head of the femur, that is, the foveal artery.[21] This artery is not present in everyone but can become the only blood supply to the bone in the head of the femur when the neck of the femur is fractured or disrupted by injury in childhood.[22]

The hip has two anatomically important anastomoses, the cruciate and the trochanteric anastomoses, the latter of which provides most of the blood to the head of the femur. These anastomoses exist between the femoral artery or profunda femoris and the gluteal vessels.[23]

Muscles and movements

The hip muscles act on three mutually perpendicular main axes, all of which pass through the center of the femoral head, resulting in three degrees of freedom and three pair of principal directions: Flexion and extension around a transverse axis (left-right); lateral rotation and medial rotation around a longitudinal axis (along the thigh); and abduction and adduction around a sagittal axis (forward-backward);[24] and a combination of these movements (i.e. circumduction, a compound movement in which the leg describes the surface of an irregular cone).[19] It should be noted that some of the hip muscles also act on either the vertebral joints or the knee joint, that with their extensive areas of origin and/or insertion, different part of individual muscles participate in very different movements, and that the range of movement varies with the position of the hip joint. [25][26] Additionally, the inferior and superior gemelli may be termed triceps coxae together with the obturator internus, and their function simply is to assist the latter muscle.[27]

The movements of the hip joint is thus performed by a series of muscles which are here presented in order of importance[26] with the range of motion from the neutral zero-degree position[24] indicated:

Clinical significance

Sexual dimorphism and cultural significance

Dancers often stand with hands on hips.

In humans, unlike other animals, the hip bones are substantially different in the two sexes. The hips of human females widen during puberty.[28] The femora are also more widely spaced in females, so as to widen the opening in the hip bone and thus facilitate childbirth. Finally, the ilium and its muscle attachment are shaped so as to situate the buttocks away from the birth canal, where contraction of the buttocks could otherwise damage the baby.

The female hips have long been associated with both fertility and general expression of sexuality. Since broad hips facilitate child birth and also serve as an anatomical cue of sexual maturity, they have been seen as an attractive trait for women for thousands of years. Many of the classical poses women take when sculpted, painted or photographed, such as the Grande Odalisque, serve to emphasize the prominence of their hips. Similarly, women's fashion through the ages has often drawn attention to the girth of the wearer's hips.